Minimum Wage

Michigan’s current minimum wage is $7.40. Michigan Dept. of Employment, Security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div. FAQ. Some exceptions apply to Michigan’s minimum wage requirements.

An employer must also comply with federal minimum wage laws, which currently sets the federal minimum wage at $7.25. See FLSA: Minimum Wage.

If an employer chooses to pay employees minimum wage, the employer must pay those employees in accordance with the minimum wage law, either federal or state, that results in the employees being paid the higher rate. In Michigan, its minimum wage law will usually apply as it guarantees a higher wage rate for employees than the federal minimum wage rate.

Overtime

Michigan requires employers to pay employees overtime at a rate of 1½ time their regular rate when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek, unless otherwise exempt. Mich. Comp. Laws 408:384a. See FLSA: Overtime for more information regarding overtime requirements.

Meals and Breaks

Michigan employers must provide employees under eighteen (18) years of age with a thirty (30) minute uninterrupted rest period if scheduled to work more than five (5) continuous hours. Mich. Comp. Laws 409.112.

Michigan does not require employers to provide breaks, including lunch breaks, for workers eighteen (18) years old or older. An employer who chooses to provide a meal, lunch, or break period must complete relieve employees of their work duties for the break period to be unpaid. Michigan Dept. of Employment, security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div. FAQ.

Vacation Leave

In Michigan, employers are not required to provide employees with vacation benefits, either paid or unpaid. See Slomka v. Hamtramck Housing Commission, 2006 Mich. App. Lexis 2013 (2006). If an employer chooses to provide such benefits, it must comply with the terms of its established policy or employment contract. Mich. Comp. Laws 408.473; see also Briney v. Kelsey-Hayes and Variety Corp., 2001 Mich. App. Lexis (2001).

An employer may lawfully establish a policy or enter into a contract denying employees payment for accrued vacation leave upon separation from employment, so long as the employees have signed contracts or written statements agreeing to the policy. See Mich. Dept. of Employment, Security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div: Payment of Fringe Benefits at Termination.

An employer may also lawfully establish a policy or enter into a contract disqualifying employees from payment of accrued vacation upon separation from employment if they fail to comply with specific requirements, such as giving two weeks notice or being employed as of a specific date of the year, so long as employees have signed contracts or written statements agreeing to the policy. See Mich. Dept. of Employment, Security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div: Payment of Fringe Benefits at Termination.

An employer is required to pay accrued vacation to an employee upon separation from employment if its policy or contract requires it. See Mich. Comp. Laws 408.473.

An employer is required to pay accrued vacation leave upon separation from employment if the employer’s established policy or employment contract is silent on the matter. See Mich. Dept. of Employment, Security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div: Payment of Fringe Benefits at Termination.

An employer may cap the amount of vacation leave an employee may accrue over time, so long as employees have signed contracts or written statements agreeing to the policy. See Mich. Dept. of Employment, Security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div: Payment of Fringe Benefits at Termination.

An employer may implement a “use-it-or-lose-it” policy requiring employees to use their leave by a set date or lose it, so long as the employee has agreed to the policy in writing.See Mich. Comp. Laws 408.473.

Sick Leave

Michigan law does not require employers to provide employees with sick leave benefits, either paid or unpaid. If an employer chooses to provide sick leave benefits, it must comply with the terms of its established policy or employment contract. An employer would not be required to pay an employee for accrued sick leave upon separation from employment unless its policy or employment contract required it to do so. Michigan Dept. of Employment, Security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div. FAQ

An employer in Michigan may be required to provide an employee unpaid sick leave in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act or other federal laws.

Holiday Leave

Michigan law does not require employers to provide employees with either paid or unpaid holiday leave. In Michigan, an employer can require an employee to work holidays. An employer does not have to pay an employee premium pay, such as 1½ times the regular rate, for working on holidays, unless such time worked qualifies the employee for overtime under standard overtime laws. If an employer chooses to provide either paid or unpaid holiday leave, it must comply with the terms of its established policy or employment contract. Michigan Dept. of Employment, Security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div. FAQ

Jury Duty Leave

An employer is not required to pay an employee for responding to a jury summons or serving on a jury.

An employer may not discharge, discipline, or threaten an employee for being summoned for jury duty, serving on a jury, or having served on a jury.

An employer may not require an employee who serves jury duty, without the employees voluntary consent or pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, to work:

• any number of hours during a day which, if added to the number of hours which the employee spends on jury duty, exceeds the number of hours normally worked by the employee during a day, or
• the number of hours normally worked by the employee if it would result in the employee be required to work past the employee’s normal quitting time.

Michigan Stat. 600.1348

Voting Leave

Michigan does not have a law which requires an employer to grant its employees leave, either paid or unpaid, to vote.

Severance Pay

Michigan law does not require employers to provide employees with severance pay.Michigan Dept. of Employment, Security & Workplace Safety: Wage & Hour Div: Fringe Benefit Definition If an employer chooses to provide severance benefits, it must comply with the terms of its established policy or employment contract.